Thank You!

I was reading some random blogs today and came across a contest/project to support our troops. Carebear started a contest that benefits our nation's military. For each comment that she receives on her post (until March 31st) she'll donate a card and care package item to our troops. Also, when commenting, you're entered into a giveaway that she is having.

Anyways, after reading about her contest, and more importantly her project for our troops, I was thinking about how often we take for granted what our military does for us. It's so easy to live in a free nation and not even think twice about how we have earned that freedom. It's thanks to our military, past and present, that we have the freedom that we have in our nation. It's sad how easy it is to forget.

I left a comment on Carebear's post that said this:
"I have always had an appreciation for the military, as my father served in the Marine Corps during Vietnam and he raised us teaching us to respect the military and to be thankful for all that they do for us. I have gained even more of a respect and appreciation for the military since I met and married my husband, who is a Corporal in the Marine Corps. I have seen the sacrifices that individuals, like him, make for our country and for our freedom and I am so thankful for that. Without willing individuals, people who give of their time and their lives for our country, we would not have the freedom that we have and we surely would not be the country that we are today. I am so thankful for each member of our military and for each family member. I'm thankful for their sacrifices and recognize that without them, our country would be non-existent. Thank you!"

After writing that comment I just thought, why not tell those individuals myself that I'm thankful for what they have done to protect our country. So, I figured I'd write on here and recognize them for what they have done and say thanks....

To my daddy who was in the Marine Corps and was in Vietnam - thanks for fighting for our freedom and for teaching me to be thankful for the freedom that we have!

To my wonderful husband, Josh, a current Corporal in the USMC - thank you for serving our country and for the sacrifces that you make for our freedom. Thanks for showing me what it means to be proud to be an American and a proud Marine!

To my friend, Robert, a current PFC in the USMC - thanks for signing up to serve our country and for the sacrifices that you have made and will make in the future. Thanks for being one of the few and the proud!

To my friend,Eddie, a sergeant in the U.S. Army National Guard and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom - thank you for fighting for our country, both here and in Iraq. Thank you for all the sacrifices that you have made to ensure that we have a free and safe nation!

And to everyone else that I know - to all of my husband's fellow Marines in his unit, to Anthony (my sister-in-law's boyfriend) who is in the army, and to the many others - THANK YOU!

So, when's the last time you have thanked someone for your freedom? Can you remember when it was? Well, find someone today who has fought and/or sacrificed to be in the military. When you find them, tell them thanks for all they've done...

-Jenn

Photostory Friday... The Circus Comes To Town

The circus comes to town... that's right. We went back to our childhood days and went to the circus this past week and I'd like to take you along to it, via pictures that I took (with my awesome camera my husband got me for my birthday). So, here we go. Here are some of the highlights of the night...

Myself, Josh, Mum, and Padre (his parents) all went to the circus together...

Josh and me at intermission

Here's my amazingly wonderful in-laws at intermission

The circus was a local show, to raise money for the Zembo Shriners. It was pretty good though. We all pretty much agreed on some of our favorite acts....

The dancing bears were really cute and did some awesome tricks!

The diving clown was probably the funniest act there was - he was great!

The grand finale, the wheel, was so nervewracking. We literally almost watched the blonde guy on the right fall off. He hit his head on the ceiling and lost his balance. Luckily he hung on though.

We even got our pictures with the clowns!

Hope you enjoyed your brief trip to the circus!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

-Jenn

Please Pray!

If you get a moment, pray for baby Stellan.Stellan's been in the hospital since Monday with Supra Ventricular Tachycardia (SVT). His heart rate has been in the high 200-300's and the doctors have tried everything to get it down, but with no permanent success. Pray for a miracle here. Stellan is the son of one of ladies whose blog I read. They're followers of God and have already seen Stellan be born as a miracle baby. Please pray that he would be healed, if God so wills. Thanks! (By the way, you can click on the picture below to go to his mom's blog which she is updating about his condition. You can also read his whole story there.)

-Jenn

Be Cool Eat At Rita's....

Rita's is FREE!... well for today that is. That's right... first day of spring always equals free italian ice at Rita's. Who can pass up the free offer for the best italian ice in the world?!? Not us! After dinner we headed straight out to get our freebies. We were greeted by a line out to the street, but it moved fast and we soon had our deluctably delicious treats....

Josh was excited to get his free italian ice...

... That was until he tasted it. Yea, don't get their sweet tea italian ice. It's pretty gross.

I was excited about mine too....
...And mine was really good. The mystery flavor = yumminess!

Overall, we were happy to have a free "date" out to Rita's!

And if you haven't ever tried Rita's, you don't know what you've been missing....

-Jenn

Photostory Friday

So I was looking through blogs when I came across this - Photostory Friday.

The object of it is that you post a photo that you have taken and then tell your blog readers about it. Sounds fun and easy, so I figure I'll do it. Why not?....

This is a picture of me and one of my best friends, Emily. Emily was my college roommate for four years, until I ran off and got married. We took this picture about two weeks ago when she was over my house for a girls' night so that she'd have a picture of her new haircut to show off to everyone. This picture reminds me of girls' nights, hanging out with my closest friends, having fun and laughing together. Girls' nights don't happen quite often enough, but when they do they're certainly a blast!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

-Jenn

Our Story - Part 3... (From Jenn's Point of View)

So I caught the bouquet. The funnier part is that Josh's younger brother, Jonny, caught the garter. We'll just say Jonny didn't get the garter very far up on my leg (that's if you consider the ankle to be part of the leg). They let Josh take over and put the garter on the rest of the way. So after catching the bouquet, we "joked" around about how I'd have to be the next one to get married. That was September.

October came and went quickly. I consistently wondered in the back of my mind when Josh was going to propose. I had a feeling it was going to happen, but in my mind there was no way he could have asked my dad yet. So, I just kept forcing the idea out of my head. We enjoyed spending time together. In October we went to one of the huge fairs not far from my school. We enjoyed walking the streets of the fair together and then watching the fair parade. It was a great time together.

Josh and I at the fair together

The next month was November. Each November the Marines have their annual Marine Corps Ball on or around November 10th to celebrate the Marine Corps birthday. It's a huge formal affair - everyone gets all dressed up, the Marines in their dress blues and the civilians in their nicest clothes. Josh asked me to be his date to the ball. I was honored. Josh's unit's 2007 ball was being held on the actual birthday, November 10th. However, Josh had to report to drill (reserve duty) the day before - Friday November 9th. I had thought that Josh had been acting kind of weird around that weekend, but I brushed it off. That Friday night, Josh was at drill and I was at a friend's house hanging out. I had texted him and said something about how I couldn't wait until we were engaged and he responded with something to the effect of "Not too long baby". I had a feeling he was telling the truth on that one, but I wasn't quite sure how soon he meant.

So the next day was the ball. A friend of mine did my hair in the morning and I got all ready. Then his mom came and picked me up and took me to their house. Josh was on his way back from his unit to pick me up from the ball. I felt bad for him. He had told me he hadn't slept well the night before and then had overslept that morning. I kept thinking that maybe it was "the day" but didn't want to get my hopes up. Anyways, I got my dress on and make-up done. Josh got his dress blues on and got all ready. Then his mom was like "hurry, hurry, we won't have enough time". I was wondering why she was hurrying us, as we were ahead of schedule and had plenty of time until we had to leave. So once we were ready his mom took what seemed like a million pictures. His brother, Jon, was also videotaping us. I found it rather odd that he was videotaping us and that his mom, dad, and brother were all there in the room watching us get pictures. I figured they were just excited for us going to the ball together.

Anyways, after what seemed like a million pictures, Josh told me that he had gotten me something and he had to go upstairs to get it. So he went upstairs and came down. He told me he had talked to my dad to see what kind of challenge coin I'd like and he had gotten me one for the ball. (A challenge coin is a commemorative coin that Marines get for different places they go and things they do, and notice he had "talked to my dad to see what kind I'd like" that was him telling me he had my parent's blessing on this) So he hands me the coin. The front of the coin looked exactly like this.

Then he said to turn it over. I turned it over and read the back and it said "Jennifer Lynn, will you marry me?" By the time I looked up from reading it Josh was on his knee with the most gorgeous ring and said "Jenn, will you marry me?". Of course I said yes. Then I laughed and hugged him and laughed and hugged him. (Laughter is my nervous reaction) Then I looked at the ring. It was a beautiful ring, with several small diamonds shaped as a heart. He told me, "Now wherever we are, even when we're apart, you'll always have my heart". That melted my heart.

After I realized what had happened, I got on the phone to tell everyone the good news. Josh says I was on the phone the entire drive to the ball (an hour and a half away). I was so excited! It was great for Josh to be able to introduce me as his fiance at the ball. We had a great time there that night and then drove back to his parent's house after the ball was over. I could barely sleep that night, as I was so excited to be engaged to the man of my dreams...

-Jenn

Random Thoughts...

So it's funny how quickly things can change. It can be a matter of moments, and things turn around - whether for the good or the bad. I've been noticing this a lot lately. It's reminded me of how unpredictable life is, how only God knows the plans for our lives, and how in just a split second our lives can either change dramatically or be over completely.

I know this may sound like a rather depressing/dreary post. But I don't mean it to be. I've just been reminded of it lately. For example, three weeks ago my little fourteen year old cousin was rushed to the hospital one Sunday morning. Later that day she was life flighted to a better hospital, where doctors found several problems. The doctors said things didn't look very hopeful for her. We were on our knees praying for her, praying that God would save her life. Almost three weeks later and three surgeries later, things are looking better for her. She's still in the hospital, but when you look at her situation - she defied the doctors' predictions and lived. She's still alive today and that can only be credited to God. I thank God that He healed her. But that incident just reminded me of how quickly life could change and how only the Lord knows the plans for our lives.

Another incident that made me think on these things was what I mentioned in my last post, with my friend Emily. She planned to have the week off from school, a free week between two student teaching placements, but ended up in the hospital for her CF instead. It just goes to show how quickly our plans change, and again how only God knows the plans he has for our lives.

I'm glad that God knows the plans for our lives. If he didn't, at times I would be hopeless. There's too many times where things seem so complicated and there seems to be no purpose for what is happening and no hope, but yet God turns those times around and works them for the good. It's wonderful to serve a God who cares about us and who plans each and every step of our entire lives.
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On a completely different topic, I'm going in today for a HIDA scan on my gallbladder. I've been experiencing gallbladder pains on and off for almost a year now. I went in for an ultrasound of my gallbladder last month and everything came back normal. Even though everything appeared normal on the ultrasound, there can still be problems with my gallbladder that can't be seen in an ultrasound. Because of this the doctor ordered this HIDA scan. From what I've read about this scan online, it doesn't sound like a very fun procedure. I'm really nervous about it and praying that it brings results. So, if you think about it, pray that things go well for me today and that we get some answers from this scan.
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It has been absolutely beautiful outside the past few days. Today is actually supposed to be around 70 degrees. I really and truly love this weather and am so looking forward to spring! The only thing that makes me sad is that it's supposed to be cool and rainy tomorrow. The weather around here changes so quickly and you never know what's coming. Got to love March weather around here. Oh well, spring will soon be here...
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In less than a week I'll be 23 years old. I remember as a kid I thought 23 was "so much older" and that by the time I was 23 I'd be done college, working, married, and have at least one kid - with another on the way. Kind of funny what you think when you're younger. The only thing I have out of that list is the married part (which I am EXTREMELY thankful for). Otherwise, I'm still in college, I'm only working part time on and off, and I have no kids and none in the foreseeable future. I guess in the eyes of a child 23 is pretty old. In my eyes now though, 23 is pretty young... I've got a whole life ahead of me still...
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Well, I guess that's enough random thoughts for today. God bless you! I'm off to get my scan soon, then I'll be visiting Emily in the hospital, and then enjoying the spring weather with my lovely husband! Have a great day and enjoy the sunshine (if you have it where you are)!

-Jenn